Barry Kauler has announced the release of Quirky 6.2 "Unicorn" edition, a minimalist live CD compatible with Ubuntu 14.10: "This is the first of the 'Unicorn series' of Quirky 6.x. Quirky 6.0 was released in December 2013, followed by many improvements. Quirky 'Tahr' builds on the same ideas, except that it is constructed with binary DEB packages from the Ubuntu 'Trusty Tahr' repository. Quirky Tahr debuted at 6.0, though chronologically later than the above Quirky series. The latest Quirky Tahr is 6.0.5. After a hiatus of several months, I have created Quirky 'Unicorn', which is built from Ubuntu Utopic Unicorn (version 14.10) DEB packages. The 'Unicorn series' is debuting at version 6.2. There have been some bug fixes and improvements since Quirky Tahr 6.0.5, but most especially a heap of application, utility (and kernel) upgrades. Summarising: childproofing mechanism; new pop-up utility 'popup'; FreeOffice (free version of SoftMaker Office); Linux kernel 3.16.6 (user: p#up#py password: l#in#ux)." See the release announcement and release notes for more information. Download the compressed IMG file from here: unicorn-6.2-8gb.img.xz (202MB, MD5).

Quirky, a sister project of Puppy Linux, is a Linux distribution built with a custom tool called Woof. The underlying infrastructure, such as boot-up and shut-down scripts, setup tools, hardware detection, desktop management, user interface, speed and general ease-of-use are common across all distributions built with Woof, but a specific build will have a different package selection and further customisation (even totally different binary packages). Quirky is developed by the founder of Puppy Linux and Woof to push the envelope a bit further, to explore some new ideas in the underlying infrastructure -- some of which may be radical or odd, hence the name Quirky.

Barry Kauler has announced the release of a new version of the Quirky distribution. Quirky is a lightweight distribution and a sister project to Puppy Linux. It is assembled using a custom tool called Woof. The new version, Quirky 8.4, is built using the latest available packages from the Ubuntu 16.04 repositories: "Version 8.4 has many architectural improvements and package upgrades, including new packages Sakura, Refind, EasyApps, PupControl, VTE and EasyShare. EasyShare is a simple 'one stop shop' for network file sharing and printing, using Samba and SSHFS. Upgraded applications include Pclock (0.8.2) and SeaMonkey (2.49.1). The Linux kernel is now version 4.14.17. Xerus 8.4 has retained the theme of 8.2; however, the desktop has a simplified icon layout, with new 'apps' and 'share' - 'share' launches EasyShare and 'apps' launches radky's EasyApps. There is an introduction to EasyShare here. Note that EasyShare works in EasyOS 0.7.1 and Quirky 8.4, but is designed to be able to be ported to other Puppy distributions." Further information on Quirky 8.4 can be found in the project's release announcement and in the release notes. Download: xerus64-8.4.iso (413MB, MD5, pkglist).

Barry Kauler has announced the release of a new version of Quirky, a close relative to Puppy Linux that is built using a tool called Woof. The new release, Quirky 8.2, runs on 64-bit x86 computers and offers mostly incremental improvements over previous 8.x releases: "Quirky Linux 8.2 x86_64 is codenamed 'Xerus' and is built using the woofQ Quirky Linux build system, with the help of Ubuntu 16.04.2 binary packages. Thus, Xerus has compatibility with all of the Ubuntu repositories. Quirky is a fork of Puppy Linux, and is mainly differentiated by being a "full installation" only, with special snapshot and recovery features, and Service Pack upgrades, though recently there is limited support for live-CD session-saving and "frugal" installation. Version 8.2 has many architectural improvements and package upgrades, including new packages JWMDesk, UrxvtControl and Take-a-Shot. Among architectural improvements, the overlay file system has been dumped in favour of aufs, mime-handling fixes, and network-connection refinements. A significant change in application selection is VLC dumped in favour of Xine. The Linux kernel is version 4.11.11 and SeaMonkey is upgraded to version 2.48b1." Further information can be found in the project's release announcement and in the release notes. Download: xerus64-8.2.iso (410MB, MD5, pkglist).

Barry Kauler has announced the availability of an update to Quirky, a sister distribution to the lightweight Puppy Linux project. The new release, Quirky 8.1.6, updates the project's 8.1.x series and is compatible with binary packages built for Ubuntu 16.04. "Quirky Linux 8.1.6 x86_64 is codenamed "Xerus" and is built using the woofQ Quirky Linux build system, with the help of Ubuntu 16.04 binary packages. Thus, Xerus has compatibility with all of the Ubuntu repositories. The Linux kernel is version 4.4.40 and SeaMonkey is upgraded to version 2.46. Quirky is a fork of Puppy Linux, and is mainly differentiated by being a "full installation" only, with special snapshot and recovery features, and Service Pack upgrades." The release announcement and release notes for Quirky 8.1.6 offer further details and a list of known issues. "There are some known issues: 1. There is Bluetooth support, but it needs work. 2. SeaMonkey has a few problems. It is stuck on DuckDuckGo for starters. 3. CLI VLC only. A full GUI video player needs to be installed." Download: xerus-8.1.6-amd64.iso (398MB, MD5).

Barry Kauler has announced the release of Quirky 8.1. Quirky is a sister project to Puppy Linux and offers a lightweight, user friendly desktop experience. The latest version, Quirky 8.1, diverges from past Quirky releases by supplying download images for Raspberry Pi 2 & 3 computers and not x86-powered computers. "All Quirkies prior to 8.1 have been built for x86 and x86_64 PCs. Version 8.1 is the first to be built for the ARM platform, specifically the Raspberry Pi 2 and Pi 3. Note that Quirky will not work on a Pi 1. It is expected a build for the Odroid XU4 is coming soon. The functionality is much as you have come to expect with a Puppy-derivative -- you get 'the kitchen sink' in a very small package. That is, an application for just about everything and utilities to setup and configure just about anything. A difference though, with the Raspberry Pi build, is that it includes LibreOffice and Inkscape, whereas Puppy-derivatives usually have light-weight choices, such as Gnumeric, Abiword and InkscapeLite. This decision was made so as to provide the same functionality out-of-the-box as Raspbian, and in fact a whole lot more." The release announcement has more information. Download: quirky-pi2-sd-8gb-xerus-8.1.img.xz (358MB, MD5, pkglist).

Barry Kauler has announced the launch of Quirky 8.0. The new release of the Quirky distribution is binary compatible with Ubuntu 16.04 and can install Deb packages from the Ubuntu software repositories. The new version of Quirky includes support for booting on UEFI-enabled computers and features version 4.4.7 of the Linux kernel. "8.0 has Linux kernel 4.4.7, SeaMonkey 2.40, and a host of applications to fill every need. As per inheritance from Puppy Linux, Quirky includes the 'kitchen sink' in a very small download. Significant new features for 8.0, in no particular order, are BluePup GUI management for Bluetooth, the ISO now boots on UEFI-firmware machines, YASSM GUI to manage Samba, YouTubeDL GUI YouTube downloader, and many applications updated. And, as usual, a multitude of bug fixes and little improvements." Additional details can be found in the release announcement and in the project's release notes. Download: xerus64-8.0.iso (347MB, MD5).

Barry Kauler has announced the release of a new version of Quirky, a sister project to Puppy Linux. The new version, Quirky 7.3, marks the start of the project's Werewolf series, which is binary compatible with Ubuntu 15.10. "Quirky Werewolf 64-bit version 7.3 has been released. Here is a brief announcement: Quirky 7.3 is the start of the 'Werewolf' series, able to install packages from the Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf repositories. Version 7.3 has major improvements to running from live CD, with fast boot-up, zram compression and session saving. The live CD has become viable for on-going usage, as an alternative to performing an installation to fixed or removable drive. These improvements also apply to the 'frugal' mode of installation. There have been numerous bug fixes and upgrades. The kernel is now 4.2.5 and SeaMonkey is 2.38." Further details can be found in the project's release announcement and in the release notes. Download: werewolf64-7.3.iso (294MB, MD5).

Barry Kauler has announced a new release of the Quirky distribution, a sister project to the popular Puppy Linux distribution. This release includes mostly package updates, including a move to version 4.1.7 of the Linux kernel. This release also reorganizes the files of the Xorg graphical software to better match the organization of other distributions. "The latest incarnation is version 7.2. A brief statement about this release: Since the previous release of Quirky, there have been steady improvements, nothing really dramatic, but lots of things here and there. As well, various packages have been updated or improved. Significant updates include SeaMonkey and Samba, and a new application, Dia. One new minor application is PupWhoIs, a front-end for the 'whois' utility. A major structural change is the doing-away with /usr/X11R7, the path where T2 compiled Xorg into -- now, Xorg is in /usr, in line with all other distros. The kernel has been upgraded to version 4.1.7." Further information can be found in the project's release announcement and in the release notes. Download: april64-7.2.iso (188MB, MD5, pkglist).

Barry Kauler has announced the release of a new, special edition of Quirky Linux. The new release, Quirky Linux 7.1 "Appril", is designed with Android app developers in mind. "This is the latest release of Quirky Linux. The Appril series, that started at version 7.0, is built entirely from source using T2, and is not related in any way to any other distro. Appril 7.1 is a specialized build of the Quirky Linux Appril series, for Android app developers. These packages are included: Android SDK, Android Studio, App Inventor, Oracle JDK and LiveCode. These packages and their dependencies have blown up this Quirky way beyond our usual pup. The download file is just under 1GB. The intention is to have out-of-the-box, just-click-and-get-going Android app development, catering for total non-programmers with App Inventor, through intermediate with LiveCode, to hard-core coders with Android Studio. A significant feature of Appril is that App Inventor runs locally, whereas the official project is hosted by MIT `in the cloud'." Further details can be found in the project's release announcement. Download (MD5): appril-7.1.usfs.xz (1,000MB).

Barry Kauler has announced the release of Quirky 7.0, a minimalist, experimental desktop Linux distribution originally forked from Puppy Linux - now also available for the x86_64 architecture: "I created Puppy Linux back in 2003, but there was never a toolchain for compiling Puppy completely from source. Instead, Puppy is built from binary packages of another distro, plus PET packages compiled natively. We did use the T2 system right back at Puppy v2. In early 2015, I tackled the formidable task of compiling everything in T2, and I had to introduce 105 new packages into T2. It took a couple of months, but I eventually was able to compile every package required for Quirky. T2 is able to compile for various CPU targets, and the proof of concept was when I compiled for an x86_64 CPU (all previous builds had been for i686). I was able to build a x86_64-based Quirky, and it works the same as the i686 build." See the release announcement and release notes for more details. Download (MD5): april64-7.0.iso (168MB), april64-7.0-8gb.img.xz (139MB).